m3conversion
Member
- Location
- Calgary, AB
Since brass is so hard to come by, I've been doing some thinking about what I might be able to use as an alternative. I know that 32-20 works... but it's hard to find too! Bear with me here, I've never tried to modify brass before. My ideas might be silly or just plain wrong... Or, I might be the creative genius my mom says I am! So here's what I've come up with:
.223 rem: dimensions are close, but it's tapered. Excluding the neck, it's tapered from slightly too skinny to slightly too thick. Also, it's not rimmed.
HOWEVER, it does insert into my cylinder about 1cm past the the necked portion. This gives me some hope. I was thinking I could drill a hole in a steel block the same diameter as the cylinder on my revolver and tap the brass into it slowly with a hammer -hopefully reshaping the brass ever so slightly and shrinking the overall diameter in the process. if I stop at the rim, the rim should remain wide enough to prevent it from falling right through when I load my revolver.
32 S&W: These come in 'shorts' and 'longs'. They're straight-walled and will chamber just fine.
However, they're slightly loose in the cylinder (I have some 'shorts' in my ammo collection and tried it out -rattles just a bit). I've heard of people firing 32 S&W in the lebel revolver, but the common complaint is poor accuracy and cracked brass. What if I pulled the bullets on some 'longs' and removed some of the powder before re-seating the bullets? I was thinking that reduced-power loads would make them less likely to crack when fired. Then the brass might be reusable.
Alternatively, I could remove the bullets, de-prime, and then try my full-length resizing die out on the brass.
If that might work, what about 'shorts'? Are they too short to use in the Lebel revolver or is length inconsequential?
32 H&R magnum: These are the same as 32 S&W except longer.
However, they are still in (regular) production. Same problems as above, but easier to find as virgin brass.
Nagant revolver brass: Haven't done much research on this yet. I noticed tradex has some for sale and it seems to be simlar to lebel brass, so maybe a candidate for some modification...
Please, feel free to praise or denounce my ideas as you see fit.
.223 rem: dimensions are close, but it's tapered. Excluding the neck, it's tapered from slightly too skinny to slightly too thick. Also, it's not rimmed.
HOWEVER, it does insert into my cylinder about 1cm past the the necked portion. This gives me some hope. I was thinking I could drill a hole in a steel block the same diameter as the cylinder on my revolver and tap the brass into it slowly with a hammer -hopefully reshaping the brass ever so slightly and shrinking the overall diameter in the process. if I stop at the rim, the rim should remain wide enough to prevent it from falling right through when I load my revolver.
32 S&W: These come in 'shorts' and 'longs'. They're straight-walled and will chamber just fine.
However, they're slightly loose in the cylinder (I have some 'shorts' in my ammo collection and tried it out -rattles just a bit). I've heard of people firing 32 S&W in the lebel revolver, but the common complaint is poor accuracy and cracked brass. What if I pulled the bullets on some 'longs' and removed some of the powder before re-seating the bullets? I was thinking that reduced-power loads would make them less likely to crack when fired. Then the brass might be reusable.
Alternatively, I could remove the bullets, de-prime, and then try my full-length resizing die out on the brass.
If that might work, what about 'shorts'? Are they too short to use in the Lebel revolver or is length inconsequential?
32 H&R magnum: These are the same as 32 S&W except longer.
However, they are still in (regular) production. Same problems as above, but easier to find as virgin brass.
Nagant revolver brass: Haven't done much research on this yet. I noticed tradex has some for sale and it seems to be simlar to lebel brass, so maybe a candidate for some modification...
Please, feel free to praise or denounce my ideas as you see fit.
